A Doctor and A Dullahan
by Phoenixofdarkness62
Summary: When a certain rider is slightly injured and requires surgery, Dr. Shinra Kishitani can only call on one surgeon: Black Jack. But is the legendary doctor of the underground willing to take on an... unusual patient with a mysterious condition?
1. Chapter 1

_A/N:When Clety's typing it'll appear in italics._

* * *

><p>"Yes?" Answered a rather deep voice. Shinra gave himself a gulp, muttered a prayer, and gave a deep exhale. "Is this Doctor Black Jack?" He asked. A brief pause. "Yes." Replied the voice. Shinra smiled.<p>

"Excuse my rude behavior, I'm Doctor Shinra Kishitani." "You're well known in the underground, you mainly work in Ikebukuro." Black Jack replied. "I'm flattered that you know of me." Shinra said, slightly proud of his status, although it was nowhere near Black Jack's reputation. "Well considering you work closer to where most of my clientele are; I'd say you're intruding on my potential patients." Black Jack said with a good-hearted laugh, Shinra joining in on it. "But I'm assuming that's not the reason you're calling." Black Jack added after their laughter had faded.

"You'd be correct. I'm assuming the rumor of your skills in surgery aren't completely unfounded." Shinra began, settling into dealing with business. It was not lost on Black Jack. "I'd say I'm above average when it comes to surgeries." He replied equally businesslike in tone.

"Good to hear. The surgery, but my estimation, isn't all that difficult, it's rather…. The patient would be…." Shinra paused debating the word to use. "A pain in the ass to deal with?" Black Jack suggested. "No. Not at all; She's not difficult to work with at all. Her… condition it's just rather an unusual condition to go with a rather basics surgery." Shinra explained.

"What's her condition like?" Black Jack, his intensity kicking in. "Stable, it's an extraction really, rather then surgery. Some thug tried to knife her, but the tip of the blade caught in her skin is all. She wasn't seriously injured. Her wound healed up pretty quickly around her, I didn't want to risk injuring her further." Shinra explained. "Then why don't you do it?" Black Jack inquired. "Your skills couldn't be that bad to aggravate it." "Because of her condition, although I have all her files; she's my roommate and you can say we've know each other for awhile, and well…" He hesitated. "I'm just her regular doctor. So I don't really posse the technical skill for it." Shinra admitted. He paused. "She's very… sensitive about her condition, so I'm the only doctor she trusts, but I've convinced her that you'd be better for it."

Black Jack paused mulling the idea over, his curiosity peaking. "Her condition, would you mind telling me about it?" He asked.

"It'd rather not discuss it over the phone, but I can tell you this. It's… robbed her of the ability to speak, but all of her other sense are fine, so she communicates with a cell phone." Shinra replied, a bit nervous that since he couldn't go into detail in fear that Black Jack would decline. "I understand, it seems simple enough for now." Black Jack replied slowly. "I'd be more then happy to give her a look, if she's willing." "That'd be great actually." Shinra agreed, relieved as they exchanged a time and date along with a brief discussion of possible cost.

"Alright, sounds great. Uh-huh, thank you doctor-" The door clicked open, then shut firmly. Heavy clad steps entered the hall. "Black Jack." Shinra got out. Celty stood at the threshold of the glass doors. Shinra put the phone down.

"_Who was that?"_ The neat text read in a scrolling format.

"Doctor Black Jack, he's agreed to take a look at you." Kishitani said slowly. Celty took off her helmet, and sat down next to him.

"_Really? Did you mention my condition?"_

"I hinted at it." Shinra replied, dryly.

"_Do you think we can trust him?"_

"He's unlicensed, but his technical skills are legendary. And before you ask, he's attended all the classes, well all the courses that would allow for him to be licensed. He just technically never graduated." Shinra explained.

"_But can we trust him?"_

"I think so. He, although this probably doesn't count for much, he sounded trustworthy. He deals with the same types I do." Shinra replied. Celty seemed to take this into consideration for a moment before replying.

"_When?"_

"Tomorrow, he's a bit out of the area."

"_Do we need to leave now?"_

"I think it'd be a smart idea to do so."

Celty picked up her helmet.

* * *

><p>It was an odd sensation riding on Celty's bike. It sounded like a horse, neighing and grunting instead of the various whirring and clicking that would be expected of a motorcycle. The feel of riding on it though was completely different then what was expected as well. At times it felt distinctly like there was a clatter of hooves, and the unmistakable feeling of possibly being thrown. Other times it was smooth, seamless like you'd think.<p>

But even though Celty was going the speed limit for once, and they weren't in Ikebukuro any more, Celty tensed at the sound of sirens and squad cars behind her. With a wheelie, or perhaps a rear, Celty disappeared into a side street.

* * *

><p>"Doctor, it's early." Pinoko whined, rubbing her eyes. Black Jack was at his desk several large volumes opened to various pages. "I know." He replied sipping at a long cold cup of coffee. Pinoko stared at him a bit before deciding to continue.<p>

"Why are you reading?" She asked. "Because I am curious to identify an incoming patients' condition. One that's robbed her of speaking yet left everything else in tact." He replied. Pinoko gave a little nod, still in her nightgown. "Did you identify it?" She asked.

"No."


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: Celty's texts are in italics._

* * *

><p>The motorcycle stopped at the nothing more then a shack on a cliff.<p>

"_Are you sure this is the place?"_

"Positive." Dr. Kishitani replied. Hesitantly, Celty put down the kickstand, as the door flew open.

"Doctor! They're here!" Pinoko shouted. She froze as she watched the biker come up behind the Doctor figure, with a perfect hourglass figure.

Instantly Pinoko's face flushed a deep red, and her hands began to tremble. Black Jack appeared at the door, and she exploded. "You're cheatn' on me aren't you!" She shouted at the top of her lungs. Dr. Shinra stopped slightly surprised, and slightly amused.

"_What is she talking about?"_

"I haven't a clue." Kishitani whispered, stifling a laugh, as the little girl who couldn't be more then eight began yelling at the patched face, and yin-yang haired Doctor. Suddenly the little girl turned to them, and she pointed rudely towards them. "You know which one, the one with hour glass figure!" Pinoko snapped.

"Pinoko…" Black Jack began. "She's a patient not whatever you think she is. Dr. Kishitani wanted me to extract a piece of a blade from her is all."

"Nu-uh you're lying." Pinoko accused. Black Jack rolled his eyes and pushed her into the house. He traveled across the porch to the steps where the duo from Ikebukuro stood. He held out his hand. "Dr. Kishitani, I'm assuming?" He said. Shinra shook his hand. "The one and only, good to see you in the flesh Dr. Black Jack. You, for better or worse, look exactly as the rumors describe." Black Jack gave a bit of a laugh, a smile pulling at the corners of his mouth. Celty watched the exchange closely.

"Dr. Black Jack this is the patient, Celty Sturluson. Celty this is Dr. Black Jack." Dr. Shinra introduced the dup. Black Jack and Celty shook hands.

"_It's nice to meet you."_

"The same to you." Black Jack said with a curious tone, attempting to see through the tinted visor.

"Let's step into my office."

* * *

><p>"You've kept very through records." Black Jack said, honestly surprised as he leafed through the file. Shinra gave a small satisfied smile. "Well, as I told you I have known her quite awhile."<p>

"I can see that." Black Jack replied, he placed the file on the desktop with a certain amount of ease. "But I am most curious about her condition. Can we discuss that?" He asked. Shinra looked at Celty.

"_Can you answer a question or two of my own first?" _Celty asked via her phone. Black Jack looked at the text. "Sure, what are your concerns?" He asked.

"_How did you get that scar?" _She quickly texted with ease. His eyebrows rose slightly. "You mean this one?" He asked pointing at his face. Her helmet nodded. Shinra agreed. "I was curious about that scar too, looks like you got a bad skin transplant." He said, unknowing. Black Jack touched his cheek. "It was from a friend." Black Jack said. Shinra instantly dropped his expression slightly fearful. "I'm so sorry I didn't-" "It's okay." Black Jack cut in. "He just helped me out when an… accident happened." He started undoing his shirt revealing more patches of skin and some rather predominate looking stiches that held them together. "I have them all over my body. To answer your question, that particular incident left me practically disabled as you can imagine." Black Jack commented. Pinoko watched the two guests from the door gauging their reactions for herself.

They always got scared. They'd still pay for his surgical expertise, but they always got scared.

Shinra and Celty looked at one another then at Black Jack. _"Can I touch them?" _Celty quickly typed. Black Jack's face dropped surprised completely by the unusual question. "I don't see why not…" He muttered. Celty touched a stich on the bottom of his jaw. Her fingers flared undoing the stitching at the touch. Instantly she retracted her hand fearful. Shinra pulled her back. Pinoko gasped. She had seen the Doc's stitching come undone at the contact. Black Jack touched his jaw. The stitching was still there, still complete, yet he had swore he had felt it come undone at her touch.

"What's your other question?" Black Jack asked cautiously after a minute or two's worth of pause between the two parties.

"_Have you ever dealt with something… unusual before? _She typed slowly. He cocked an eyebrow and gave a smirk. "I deal with unusual stuff everyday." He smirked. _"I mean really unusual like borderline paranormal."_ Celty corrected herself in another rapid text. Black Jack frowned just slightly, before glancing at the door Pinoko was hiding behind. "Come on out Pinoko." Black Jack called. Slowly Pinoko opened the door and came forward embarrassed. He gestured to her to come closer.

"Pinoko started off a cystoma living inside her sister's body for almost eighteen years. The only reason I kept her alive was because I swear I could hear her voice in my head when I was trying to operate." Black Jack stated completely blunt, and completely serious. "And here she is today in a mostly artificial body." He said gesturing to her. The duo from Ikebukuro didn't seem phased at all by this.

"I've done a couple of paranormal surgeries. I operated on a spirit inside of a young man once, although I did actual have due cause to do so." Black Jack said remembering some of his stranger cases. "I helped some ghosts from a plane wreck nearby recover. They even offered me a seat on the plane. I refused. And believe it or not, I even helped out some extraterrestrials because a monk sought me out. You can take it or leave it. Pinoko's living proof of it, and the other two you can decide for yourselves." Black Jack finished casual about it all.

"_Do you think maybe he won't notice?"_ Celty typed. Shinra shook his head. "He's a skilled surgeon there's no way he wouldn't notice Celty. Do you trust him or not?" Shinra said in a hushed tone as the two conversed. Pinoko looked offended that they were discussing the Doctor in that way. Black Jack couldn't seem to care less. He was use to patients having their final discussions at this time.

The two turned back to Black Jack.

"_Can you keep a secret?_" Celty's screen read.


	3. Chapter 3

"_Can you keep a secret?"_ Celty's screen read. Black Jack read it quietly. "Of course, we can draw up a contract for this of course. Not that I go around discussing my patients anyway… " Black Jack said, the ending added the end part quietly. Celty looked to Shinra for support. He nudged her. "I told you how I feel about him already. It's your body Celty, you make the decisions about it." He said in a way that made her feel safe, but didn't do much as to help her out.

"_Promise you won't scream."_ She wrote showing it to both Doctor Black Jack and Pinoko. Pinoko pouted. "I'm not a little kid you know. Pinoko's a grown lady." She huffed. Black Jack gave her a look then turned his attention back to Celty. "I promise I won't and Pinoko wouldn't even dream of it." He said. Celty handed her phone to Shinra. Slowly she removed her helmet.

And there was no head underneath it. Pinoko opened her mouth in awe and shock, and was about to let out a scream when Black Jack put his hand over her mouth. "We promised Pinoko." He said sternly. Pinoko nodded, and closed her mouth. Shinra sighed. Black Jack came closer, and observed the back… aura? Smoke? Matter? Coming from Celty's neck.

"A condition that robs the patient of their voice, yet all their senses remain in tact…. It… almost seem impossible since you have no head." Black Jack said quietly observing her further. Shinra handed Celty her phone back, and took her helmet instead. _"I can still see you, you know. Shinra doesn't have an explanation for it either but here I am."_ Celty typed. Black Jack nodded. "So… what exactly are you?" Black Jack asked cautious.

"_I'm a Dullhan. A headless rider. I use to live in Ireland, but one day I woke up and my head was gone. So I've been searching for it for over twenty years."_ Celty typed. "Interesting…" Black Jack said sitting back down his curiosity satisfied for now. "So where exactly is the knife tip?" Black Jack asked, reaching for a scalpel. Shinra looked to Celty a smile on his face. "I told you we could trust him." Shinra was all he said, as he gestured for her to turn around and remove her jacket. She pulled it off less embarrassed since Pinoko was there. Pinoko fumed and slapped Black Jack's leg.

"What?" He demanded. She glared. "She's a lady!" Pinoko said loudly walking out of the room, and promptly returning with a patient's shirt. She held it out to Celty. Who took it. _"Thank you."_ Pinoko's lips twitched briefly into a smile, but she held a frown. "No big deal." Was all she said, as Celty put it on.

Shinra gestured to the slight discoloration in Celty's left shoulder. "That's where the tip is." He said. "As you can tell it's in a pretty unusual spot in her back. Think you can get it?" He asked Black Jack. Black Jack looked at it. "Seems simple enough… wait…" Black Jack paused his hand on her back. Nothing not even an exhale…

"She's not breathing." Black Jack said bluntly. Shinra rubbed the back of his head embarrassed. "Oh that? She doesn't really need to breath, she doesn't have a heartbeat either." Shinra added. Black Jack stared at him. "She doesn't have a heartbeat." He repeated. Shinra nodded. "She has all her vital organs though, including her heart, but they aren't really doing anything. That's why I wanted you to do the surgery. I've only known Celty without her head, but I have a theory about if her head were ever to return to her. I bet once she put it on her vitals would start working again since her mind would return to her and all." Shinra explained. Black Jack sighed irritated.

"Is there anything else you forgot to mention?" He asked sarcastically. "Well actually yes. She heals unnaturally fast, and she feels pain too. But her wounds seal up instantly it seems." Shinra said. Black Jack sighed. "Pinoko got get some clamps and my sharpest scalpel. This is going to have to be quick." He said, as Pinoko dashed off.

* * *

><p>"And you're sure you don't want a pain killer or anything? Doc can inject it into you so you don't feel anything." Pinoko asked, Celty several minutes later. "That's a kind offer, but we've tried it before. It doesn't work." Shinra said speaking for her. <em>"I can speak for myself."<em> Celty typed. She turned to Pinoko. _"Thank you, but it's like he said. It won't do any good."_ Pinoko nodded.

"Alright, are you ready to go Celty?" Black Jack asked his tools of the trade ready at his side. Shinra kneeled down, so Celty could brace herself, which she did. Shinra grinned. "She's ready." He replied. Black Jack sighed. "Here we go." He said, letting the scalpel cut into the porcelain skin.

* * *

><p>"Thanks Doctor Black Jack." Shinra said shaking his hand. "Thank you as well Pinoko." Shinra added quickly noting the girl was tapping her foot impatiently. Pinoko gave a curt nod to Dr. Kishitani. <em>"Thank you Doctor Black Jack."<em> Celty held up. Black Jack shook his head. Even at his skill level and clamps being destroyed, he had a difficult time with Celty for just a simple extraction. They shook hands. "Not a problem Celty, but you're giving me a bit of a run for my money." He said as the doctors laughed. Celty turned to Pinoko. _"Thank you for the robe, and your support." _Pinoko blushed. "It wasn't much…. You're a lady too. Even if you're a Dullahan." Pinoko commented. Celty gave her a hug, which after a moment of shock Pinoko returned.

"We'd best be going Celty." Shinra reminded her looking at his watch. "We've got a bit of trip home." He said gesturing to the bike, which whinnied at them when they came too close. Black Jack and Pinoko stared at the bike. Celty turned to them as if they were crazy. "She's a dullahan, they don't dismiss their horses easily." Shinra replied, as Celty got on with ease. Shinra got on behind her. She gave a wave. _"Thanks again. Goodbye."_ Celty held up. Black Jack and Pinoko nodded. Shinra gave a wave. "Give us a call if you're ever called into Ikeburkuro for business. You're welcome at our place." Shinra said with a goodbye. "Will do." Black Jack replied, as the Doctor and Dullahan disappeared down the path.


End file.
